Distance Learning's Impact on Education IT - Distance Learning's impact on Education IT
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Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition 2020/21 Distance Learning’s Impact on Education IT New research from Absolute® examines the effects of distance learning on endpoint health, device usage, safety, and security as schools adapt to remote and hybrid learning models in 2020/21.
Page 2 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Executive Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic caused The additional COVID-19-related As a standard platform deployed in
an acceleration of K-12 education’s expenses for an average U.S. school over 1,200 schools and districts in
digital roadmap in several key areas. district are estimated to be in the North America, Absolute embarked
range of $1.7 million, or about $500 on its second annual education
The rapid shift to remote or distance per student.4 technology research project to
learning in spring 2020 revealed that better understand and address the
access to Wi-Fi and digital devices at In summary, large and small schools challenges facing K-12 education in
home was inadequate for millions and districts find themselves in an this unique 2020/21 school year. We
of U.S. households.1 The so-called unprecedented situation — they looked at anonymized, de-identified
“homework gap” moved from are educating broad and diverse data from millions of education
being an issue of digital inequity student populations with distance endpoints to find the answer to key
in the home to becoming a major learning for the first time; navigating questions such as:
roadblock to learning for millions of new learning platforms; finding
students. new ways to engage students with • How can school districts stay
unfamiliar technology; and investing connected to — and manage — a
Schools responded by accelerating in professional development to more mobile device inventory?
or creating programs that support teachers. And they’re doing
ensured students could learn this on tighter budgets with fewer • How are devices being used by
online, regardless of the technical resources. K-12 students?
infrastructure. Before the COVID-19
outbreak, 82% of schools in the U.S. Further, the cybersecurity • What technology is required to
provided student devices in one-to- challenges highlighted in Absolute’s enable the remote classroom?
one or similar programs2, though K-12 report last year have grown.5 • How are students engaging
not all of those devices left the With many teachers and IT staff with online learning tools?
school grounds. Today, schools are working from home and many
getting closer to a device for every students learning remotely — • Does distance learning
student — with few restrictions on outside the safe perimeter of technology put students and
device movement.3 the school network and web schools at greater risk?
filters — cybersecurity incidents
The rapid response rates across are increasing and, even more • What can schools do to make
both public and private sectors concerning, they’re happening off their devices more resilient in
complicated planning for the the school network where IT has the 2020/21 school year?
school year, as contradictory policy no visibility. As a result, education
recommendations circulated. This report includes a summary and
is still the most vulnerable sector, analysis of our findings.
Federal stimulus packages for public accounting for 60% of all malware
education are rolled out, while, attacks.6
simultaneously, state and local
education budgets are tightened.
1
Digital Divide Persists Even as Lower-Income Americans Make Gains in Tech Adoption. Pew Research, 2019.
2 CoSN’s 2019 K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report Consortium of School Networking. CoSN, 2019.
3
Coronavirus Pushes Schools Closer to a Computer for Every Student. EdWeek, 2020.
4
With Budget Cuts Looming, Here’s How Districts Will Decide What to Keep or Cut. EdSurge, 2020.
5
Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report. Verizon, 2020.
6
Global Threat Activity. Microsoft, 2020.
Page 3 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Key Insights
Distance Learningʼs
Impact on Education IT
COVID-19 caused an acceleration of K-12 education’s
New research by Absolute digital roadmap in three key areas:
examines the effects Closing the “homework gap” to enable digital
of distance learning on 1 learning.
Mobile hotspots are increasingly going home, with students,
endpoint health, device creating an "always-connected" online learning dynamic1
usage, safety, and security
Enabling remote and hybrid learning models.
as schools adapt to remote 2 75% of schools intend to operate remote or hybrid models2
and hybrid learning models
in the 2020/21 school year. Protecting students, staff, and schools from cyberattacks.
3 60% of all malware attacks (particularly ransomware) occur in
education3
To better understand what is
happening on the ground,
12 analyst reports and
Absolute studied: millions of devices 10,000 Schools and Districts peer research
This is what we discovered…
Reliance on devices to drive IT teams are doing School devices are mainly
learning outcomes has more with less. being used for learning.
increased. While federal stimulus packages may help
in the short term, long-term budgets are 40%
YouTube, Edgenuity®,
16%
uncertain: Google Docs™, and
5%
61% 28% $750B
predicted decrease in state and 11%
Google Classrooms
are where most
students are
increase in devices rise in daily active
used heavily hours used local government budgets5 spending their time.
27%
8% 80% $3.7B
additional COVID-19 costs6
z Education and Online Learning
increase in the of schools have or z Entertainment and Videos
number of older plan to purchase z Cloud-Sharing Services
devices in school
fleets
more devices to
enable remote $500
incremental per student
z Web Search
z Other
learning4
distance-learning costs7
Page 4 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
As more devices go home,
20% of all devices have 41% of school IT teams said 30 devices missing on
IT teams are challenged to gone dark or have not been tracking lost or missing average at each school in
manage them: online so far in the first five devices is a big challenge.8 the past nine months.
months of 2020
To support and manage Remote learning With increasing complexity,
remotely, IT teams are rolling out is creating tech device security is more
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support challenges challenging than ever.
and collaboration applications. that are taking
away valuable time
from teachers to of devices have out-of-date
"teach". 72% OS versions (two or more
versions old)
87%
increase in remote
454
unique patch versions across
Windows 10 devicesalone
desktop protocol (RDP) 9 out of 10 teachers
usage. reported spending more
time troubleshooting
141%
increase in collaboration
RemotePC™
LogMeIn Pro®
Zoho Assist
GoToMyPC®
technology problems9
spike in outdated Chrome OS
software.
Connectwise Control®
81% versions, due to new versions
released in early April 2020
WebEx® Zoom Skype™ Parallels® Access
Microsoft Teams™ Slack® TeamViewer Splashtop®
Blue Jeans Pidgin Chrome Remote Desktop 7 out of 10 teachers
Flock™ GoToMeeting® Remote Desktop Manager reported spending days average patch age for
Microsoft Lync™ Join.Me RemoteUtilities® for Windows
less time on student
instruction during 183 Windows 10 devices
COVID-19 than when they
! were they were in their
physical classroom10
But the FBI warned schools of the increased risk of
RDP as a vector for ransomware!11
days average patch age for
31 MacOS devices
1.
Coronavirus Pushes Schools Closer to a Computer COVID-19? Learning Policy Institute, 2020.
for Every Student. EdWeek, 2020. 7.
What Will It Take to Stabilize Schools in the Time of
2.
School Districts’ Reopening Plans: A Snapshot COVID-19? Learning Policy Institute, 2020.
(2020, July 28). EdWeek, 2020. 8.
Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020.
3.
Global Threat Activity. Microsoft, 2020. 9.
How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That
4.
Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020. Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 2020. of schools have at least one
5.
Projected State Shortfalls Grow as Economic
Forecasts Worsen. Center on Budget and Policy
10.
How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That
Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 2020.
46% device that uses rogue or
non-authorized VPN or web
Priorities, 2020. 11.
FBI Warns K12 Schools of Ransomware Attacks via proxy applications (up 4
6.
What Will It Take to Stabilize Schools in the Time of RDP. ZDNet, 2020. percentage points from 2019)
Page 5 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
New Challenges Facing Schools
in 2020/21
There are extensive changes distance learning on short notice. 2. Expansion of 1:1 and Other
taking place in the K-12 education Since periodic outbreaks are to Student Device Programs Placing
technology landscape as a result of be expected in the coming years, Stress on Over-Stretched IT Teams
COVID-19 school closures and other operational agility is now a critical In 2020, there was an excessive and
distancing requirements. These capability for IT teams. hurried demand for new devices
changes are accelerating digital from education ministries, school
transformation efforts and reducing Following any distance learning districts, and schools across the
digital inequity in education. The periods, devices that have been world in response to impending
rapid speed of change is creating connected to insecure home or school closures and the shift to
new challenges for the education public Wi-Fi networks will connect distant learning.8
IT teams that must support the back to the school network. IT teams
near tectonic shift that has taken will have to ensure these devices Many schools pulled retired
place. Some of the main challenges are malware-free and don’t contain devices back into commission to
highlighted in Absolute’s current sensitive data that could result in fill temporary gaps. As a result,
education report include: a security incident. Learning about many education IT teams are now
problems after they happen is managing a much larger inventory
1. Requirement for Seamless too late. IT teams need advanced of devices and applications —
Transitions Between Distance, visibility into what is happening on with the same or fewer IT staff
In-Person, and Hybrid Learning school devices to remain proactive resources than in previous years.
Few schools will get through the and mitigate risk. Since these devices are now in
2020/21 academic year without students’ homes, rather than
some form of distance or hybrid Figure 1 in the classroom or computer
learning model. It is expected % School Districts with Various labs, the complexity of endpoint
that health officials’ ongoing Learning Models management has increased. This
recommendations for social complexity is exacerbated since
distancing in classrooms will limit 0.4% IT teams themselves are working
the number of students attending remotely and cannot physically
school in-person. access devices to assist students,
25% administrators, or teachers.
According to a recent report, 48% of
the sampled school districts from U.S. state revenues are expected
48%
across the U.S. plan to operate via to decrease $750 billion (or 20%)
distance learning only and 75% plan over the next two years.9 At the
to operate via distance learning or a same time, school systems face
hybrid instructional model.7 many new pandemic-related costs
27% including food services, personal
For schools adopting a hybrid protective equipment (PPE), and
or in-person model, IT teams student technology. The U.S. School
must be prepared to switch to z Distance Learning Only Superintendents Association (AASA)
z Full in-person reopening available estimates the new health and safety
for all students
z Hybrid/Partial
z Undecided
7
School Districts’ Reopening Plans: A Snapshot (2020, Aug 28). EdWeek, 2020.
8
The Impact of COVID-19 on the K-12 Education Mobile PC Market. FutureSource, 2020.
9
Projected State Shortfalls Grow as Economic Forecasts Worsen. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2020.
Page 6 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
expenses alone could cost each Figure 2 4. Keeping Students and Staff
district an extra $1.7 million.10 The Recent Changes in Classroom Usage Safe and Productive While Off the
Learning Policy Institute estimates due to COVID-19 School Network
the cost of distance learning at With many devices outside the
about $500 per student.11 While % of respondents perimeter of the school network,
Federal stimulus packages may 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% web filtering and other security
help in the short term, continued Troubleshooting tools that depend on appliances or
uncertainty and its impact on problems with the network may become obsolete.
technology
longer-term budgets remains. As a result, cybercrime in education
Student may continue to increase as bad
IT teams will be tasked with instruction actors exploit new holes in security
accounting for every tech dollar (total amount)
measures.15
spent to ensure their school budgets
are justified. Enrichment IT teams are tasked with ensuring
that students are using devices to
3. Accelerated Adoption of Digital learn, while also minimizing the risk
Learning and Collaboration Tools of a student accessing inappropriate
Review
Causing Teacher Frustration content on a school-issued device.
According to a report from October
2019, 93% of U.S. school districts Presenting new, These challenges are significant —
standards-
were already using digital learning aligned material but not insurmountable.
in at least half of their classrooms
every week and 85% of teachers and z Less Time z More Time The following chapters offer insights
principals supported the increased that can help teams take a more
*Results show responses from teachers
use of digital learning in their SOURCE: EdWeek Research Center survey, 2020
proactive approach to enabling
schools.12 positive learning outcomes for
This means that valuable remote students and staff, while
Despite this, teachers and instructional time is being spent protecting them from inappropriate
students faced some issues when tackling technology challenges — content and malicious threats.
forced to rely solely on digital either learning the intricacies of a
learning suddenly in the Spring. new learning management system
Nearly nine out of ten teachers or fixing access problems.14
reported spending more time
troubleshooting technology Teachers’ problems are
problems and seven in ten reported compounded by the fact that many
spending less time on student schools are now operating a remote
instruction during COVID-19 than IT helpdesk. Since IT doesn’t always
they did when they were in their have physical access to devices,
physical classrooms.13 troubleshooting and remediating
issues is more difficult. After all,
tools like Microsoft® System Center
Configuration Manager (SCCM)
don’t always work effectively when
devices are off the school network.
10
With Budget Cuts Looming, Here’s How Districts Will Decide What to Keep or Cut. EdSurge, 2020.
11
What Will It Take to Stabilize Schools in the Time of COVID-19? Learning Policy Institute, 2020.
12
Mission Accomplished: EducationSuperHighway Announces Closure of the K-12 Connectivity Gap. EducationSuperhighway, 2019.
13
How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 2020.
14
How COVID-19 Is Shaping Tech Use. What That Means When Schools Reopen. EdWeek, 2020.
15
Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report. Verizon, 2020.Page 7 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Management of School Devices in
Distance and Hybrid Environments
Reliance on endpoint devices Since January, there has been a 205% increase in the number of new devices
to drive learning outcomes has first connecting to the internet as schools ramp up inventory to support
increased. As more devices go home distance learning in the new school year.
for longer periods of time, IT teams
are struggling to manage those
devices and ensure their safe return. Figure 4
% Increase in Number of Devices 1st Time Connecting vs. Jan 2020
Increase in Number of Devices
Over 80% of schools have purchased 225%
or plan to purchase more devices to
200%
enable distance learning.16
175%
In March 2020, Absolute's data
150%
uncovered a spike in the number
of devices first connecting to the 125%
internet as students took home 100%
devices that previously remained 75%
in the classroom or activated new
50%
home-based devices.
25%
0%
Figure 3 Jan—20 Feb—20 Mar—20 Apr—20 May—20 Jun—20 Jul—20 Aug—20
Devices Connecting for the 1st Time
However, the use of older, more vulnerable devices being redeployed to fill
120% the gap is evident in Absolute's data. After February 2020, the number of older
devices in school fleets increased by 8%. In an effort to equip every student,
110%
teacher, and administrator, we saw IT recommissioning retired devices from
100% storage to meet the demand. It is unlikely that these older devices have the
90% most recent patches, security updates, and application versions installed —
80% increasing the risk factors of an already expanded fleet.
70%
60% Figure 5
50% Average Age of Devices Deployed for Remote Learning
40%
30% Pre-Covid
Aug 2019 –
20% Feb 2020 18% 30% 52%
10% During
Covid
0%
Jan—20 Feb—20 Mar—20 Apr—20 May—20 Mar 2020 –
Apr 2020 10% 49% 41%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
z Young (< 1 yr) z Medium (1—3 yrs) z Old (3+ yrs)
16
Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020.Page 8 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Decrease in IT Visibility On average, schools had 30 devices Figure 6
According to Absolute’s data, 20% of go missing at some point in the last Percent of Active vs. Dark Devices
all education devices have gone dark nine months. Within two weeks in 2020
or were not online between January of them being flagged as missing,
and May 2020. Of all new devices Absolute played a pivotal role in
deployed in the first half of the locating 20% of them. Of stolen
school year (July to December 2019), devices, 42% of stolen devices were 20%
it appears that 14% have not been kept by the user despite the school’s
used at all in the second half of the attempt to retrieve it, 11% were
school year (January to May 2020). taken from cars, and 8% were taken
from homes.
This lack of connectivity could, in
part, be a result of the “homework Absolute data shows that, between
gap,” whereby 21.3 million people 2017 and 2020, 65% of stolen 80%
lack access to broadband in the devices running Absolute were
US17, including 35% of school-age recovered and returned to schools.
children18. It could also be attributed When using Absolute’s solutions, z Active Devices Calling in 2020
to stolen, missing, or unused schools had stolen devices returned z Dark Devices
devices. to them in an average of 47 days.
Increase in Device Drift While these are high numbers, the
According to recent research, 41% acceleration of devices going into Figure 7
of school IT teams said tracking education, coupled with the fact Percent of Stolen Devices Recovered
lost or missing devices was a big that most of these devices are going
challenge.19 home, means that this problem will
increase exponentially.
65%
% Stolen Devices
Recovered
“We started using Absolute when we had a rash Figure 8
of laptop thefts. Absolute stemmed the thefts Number of Days to Device Recovery
and because it was so effective, we now use it
on all our endpoint devices."
Erik Greenwood, CTO
Anaheim Union High School District
(30,000 devices)
47 # Days to
Recovery
17
2019 Broadband Deployment Report. Federal Communications Commission, 2019.
18
Digital Divide Persists Even as Lower-Income Americans Make Gains in Tech Adoption. Pew Research, 2019.
19
Distance Learning Study. Hanover Research, 2020.Page 9 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Preventing Endpoint Vulnerabilities is Challenging
Due to the wide range of device types, operating systems, and applications
used in education, managing and patching devices is more challenging than
ever. Absolute found that 72% of school endpoints in our sampled data are
running operating systems two or more versions old. For example, there
was a spike in outdated Google Chrome OS™ versions due to a new version
released in early April 2020.
Figure 9
Devices with OS 2+ Versions Behind, by Operating System
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Fall Spring End of Fall Spring End of Fall Spring End of
2019 2020 School 2019 2020 School 2019 2020 School
Year Year Year
Windows 10 MacOS Chrome OS
According to Absolute’s data, the average patch age is 183 days for Microsoft
Windows® 10 devices and 31 days for Apple® MacOS. Worryingly, Absolute’s
data also noted 454 unique patch versions present across Windows 10
devices alone. Outdated operating systems present an opportunity for
hackers to access school devices with ransomware.
Figure 10
Average Patch Age by Operating System
Days
250
200
150
100
50
0
Fall Spring End of Fall Spring End of
2019 2020 School 2019 2020 School
Year Year
Windows 10 MacOSPage 10 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Visibility into the Remote Classroom
In addition to managing devices and ensuring students and staff are Absolute’s data indicates that the
protected online, IT teams require visibility into device usage so they can majority (70%) of devices running
prove their technology spend is being used to drive effective learning Google Chrome OS are used
outcomes. between one and four hours per
day. Comparatively, devices running
Device Usage is Increasing Windows 10 and Apple MacOS are
As device usage has increased to support the new education model, Absolute more likely to be used more than
noted a 61% increase in heavily used devices and a 28% rise in active daily four hours per day.
hours since fall 2019.
Figure 14
Figure 11 Figure 12
Hours of Device Usage by OS
Percentage of Devices Used Heavily Average Active Daily Hours of Use
(4 – 8 Hours / Day, over 30 day period) (over 30 day period)
14% 11%
Hours
25% 5
26%
20% 4 Windows 10
15% 3
49%
10% 2
5% 1
0% 0 6%
Fall 2019 Spring 2020 End of Fall 2019 Spring 2020 End of 18%
School Year School Year
29%
Absolute’s data indicates that devices running Microsoft Windows 10 and MacOS
Apple MacOS see heavier daily usage than devices running Chrome OS.
This is likely due to these devices being used by higher grades (grade six 48%
and upwards). Students in higher grades are typically assigned more online
classroom instruction and spend more time on their devices, given the nature
of their studies. There is also an increased acceptance of older students 1%
spending more time on devices. 17% 12%
Figure 13 Chrome OS
Average Active Daily Hours of Use
(during April 2020)
70%
Hours
5
z Light Usage (Page 11 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Devices are Mainly Used for Absolute's data indicates that an
Learning average of one hour per day was
As of May 1, 2020, Absolute’s data spent on sites with inappropriate
indicates that 40% of time online content. Despite web filters, harmful
was spent on, though this time was and inappropriate online content
spent on education and learning
is still being consumed on school-
applications. Entertainment and
videos accounted for 27%, including issued endpoints.
YouTube, which is often used for
learning. Figure 16
% Average Daily Time Spent by
Figure 15 Platform (week ending May 15, 2020)
Customer
% Average Daily Time Spent Online by
Category (week ending May 1, 2020) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Insight
YouTube
16% Edgenuity®
“Absolute Web Usage has 5%
Google
40%
provided us with much Docs
needed insight into how our 11%
Google
Classroom
district utilizes both paid
and free applications within Other*
our system. The weekly
27% < 1%
snapshots allow me to dive
deeper and investigate *Other includes these platforms, each at less than
websites that have high z Education and Online Learning 1%: Cool Math Games, Schoology®, Class Link,
traffic as well as those z Entertainment and Videos Khan Academy, Quizlet, Seesaw, Achieve 3000®,
I-ready™, Flip Grid, Class Dojo.
z Cloud Sharing Services
websites that seem to have z Web Search
bypassed our web filter.” z Other
Eric Ramos
Chief Technology Officer
More time is spent on YouTube than
Duarte USD on any other education-orientated
website. However, YouTube content
Duarte Unified School District includes both educational and
protects students while non-educational material, so it’s
facilitating student engagement unclear how much time is actually
spent learning on YouTube. After
Duarte Unified School District
YouTube, Edgenuity®, Google Docs™,
(USD) needed to ensure their
and Google Classrooms are where
students had access to devices
students are spending most of their
and online curriculum, and
time.
that their teachers had visibility
into student engagement and
where gaps in connectivity
may exist. They are leveraging
Absolute Web Usage, which
allows administrators to measure
how engaged their students
are with online curriculum and
gain detailed insights into which
learning resources are underused.Page 12 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Keeping Student and Staff Devices
and Data Safe
Despite being among the top web proxy applications — but it IT is deploying remote management
three priorities for IT leaders in only takes one vulnerable device solutions. Last year, Absolute found
education20, cybersecurity remains to create a security incident. This is that over half of K-12 schools and
a challenge in schools, exposing up four percentage points from last districts (53%) rely on native client/
staff and students to threats. As year (42%). patch management tools. This
described in chapter two, the threat year, we noted that between early
is amplified by the complexity of New EdTech Creates More Device in the 2019/2020 school year and
device and application management Complexity the school year ending, there was
as schools reacted to the COVID-19 Absolute’s data noted a 141% an 87% increase in the number of
pandemic. increase in the number of devices devices with remote management
with collaboration software installed applications.
Today, ransomware accounts for from fall 2019 to May 2020 including
approximately 80% of malware popular applications like Cisco These include tools like RemotePC™,
infections in education, up from 48% Webex®, Zoom, Skype™, Microsoft Zoho Assist, LogMeIn® Pro,
in 2019, and unwitting insiders are Teams™, Slack®, Blue Jeans, Pidgin, Connectwise® Control, Parallels®
responsible for 33% of incidents21. Flock™, GoToMeeting®, Microsoft Access, TeamViewer, Chrome Remote
Interestingly, education is the only Lync™, and Join.Me. Desktop, Remote Desktop Manager,
sector where malware distribution Splashtop®, RemoteUtilities® for
to victims was more common via Figure 17 Windows, and GoToMyPC®.
websites than email22. % Increase in Devices with
However, schools must be wary of
Collaboration Apps Installed
This year, Absolute noted a spike in remote desktop applications. In
(compared to Fall 2019)
the number of devices with remote June, the U.S. Federal Bureau of
management applications installed, 150% Investigation sent a private industry
which may also be responsible notification (PIN) alert to schools
120%
for the rise in ransomware in about increasing attacks from
schools23. It should be noted that 90% ransomware gangs that abuse RDP
schools are particularly vulnerable 60% connections to break into school
to ransomware attacks because systems24.
30%
malicious actors find them to be
easy and unwitting targets. 0% Figure 18
Spring 2020 End of
School Year % Increase in Devices with Remote
The circumvention of security
Management Apps Installed
controls on school devices (which With these new applications being (compared to Fall 2019)
continues to get more popular) rolled out so quickly, it has been
may also be to blame. VPN or web a challenge for IT teams to ensure 100%
proxy applications with names like they are secure, patched, and that
‘IP Vanish,’ ‘NordVPN,’ ‘CroxyProxy,’ 80%
sensitive student data is protected.
and ‘Hide My Ass’ are purposely 60%
designed to evade web filtering and Remote Management Poses
40%
other content controls. Absolute’s Ransomware Threat
data indicates that 46% of schools In an attempt to manage the 20%
have at least one device that uses increased number of devices and 0%
rogue or non-authorized VPN or applications off the school network, Spring 2020 End of
School Year
20
CoSN K-12 2020 Hurdles and Accelerators. Consortium for School Networking, 2020.
21
Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report. Verizon, 2020.
22
Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report. Verizon, 2020.
23
How to Protect your Organization and Remote Workers Against Ransomware. TechRepublic, 2020.
24
FBI Warns K12 Schools of Ransomware Attacks via RDP. ZDNet, 2020.Page 13 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Application Persistence™ Improves Anti-Virus Security Compliance Rates
Absolute's data found that education customers with Application Persistence
for anti-virus (AV) enabled on their devices had AV compliance rates 28
percentage points higher than those seen on the average device (without
App Persistence running). These customers also saw an increase of eight
percentage points in the number of devices with an AV app properly installed.
Figure 19
% of Total Devices with AV App in Compliance
100%
90%
Customer
80%
Absolute Advantage Insight
70%
“With the right technology
60% resources in place, including
Absolute, we can ensure
50% an exceptional, seamless
remote learning experience.”
40% Dean Phillips
Spring 2020 End of School Year Director of Technology
PA Cyber Charter School
z Persistence Solution (Average) z Anti-Virus (Average)
PA Cyber Protects Mission-
Critical Apps with Absolute's
Endpoint Resilience
Figure 20 PA Cyber Charter School, a
pioneer in online learning,
% of Total Devices with AV App Installed
selected Absolute for control over
their fleet of 15,000 devices. They
100% also use Absolute’s Application
Absolute Advantage Persistence™ service to ensure an
90% always-on, two-way connection
to their IT management solution,
80% which they use to remotely
push out security patches, new
70% applications and scripts.
60%
50%
40%
Spring 2020 End of School Year
z Persistence Solution (Average) z Anti-Virus (Average)Page 14 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Enabling the “New Normal”
in Education
Since March 2020, IT teams have Goals What IT Should Report on Capabilities Required
been tasked with enabling a new,
more agile education model. • Geolocation
With the situation still changing 1. Are devices still in the
• Geofencing
district?
constantly, IT teams may liken their • Missing Devices Report
2. Are devices lost or stolen?
strategies to “building a plane as it’s 3. Can I take action on missing
• Freeze
flying.” The summer offered many devices? • Call-In History Reports
Mitigating • Investigations and Recovery
teams a reprieve to reset and plan Device Drift 4. Can I improve my device
recovery rate? • Persistence® technology
for the “new normal” in education, embedded in firmware25
a normal that must be secure, agile,
and efficient.
With the new school year already 1. When devices connect back
in full swing, IT teams can now to the school network after
being on home networks, • AV Compliance/Install Rate
focus on measuring the success of will they be safe — or Reporting
their efforts and optimizing their introduce risk? • Scan for Sensitive Data
strategies as they go. Here are some Security 2. Will devices contain sensitive
metrics that we expect will be top of family data?
mind for IT:
1. Are online learning tools
being used as expected?
• Web Usage Reporting
2. Which ones have the
Facilitating greatest adoption?
Distance
Learning
• Reach Scripting (push
1. Can IT manage, repair, applications, change device
and remediate IT issues settings, etc.)
when devices are off • Application Persistence25
Ensuring network and IT staff is • Detailed Device Data
working from home?
Endpoint Reporting (troubleshooting
Resilience and investigation)
Absolute's complete Endpoint Resilience platform supports safer, smarter,
and more secure learning environments — whether in-person, remote,
or hybrid — by providing IT teams with the critical controls and valuable
data they need to make important decisions about asset management and
security.
25
https://www.absolute.com/platform/persistence/Page 15 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
2020 signals a new chapter in Gain Visibility and Control of Leverage Endpoint Resilience
education. The challenges we are Devices to Support Student Safety and
seeing are not a minor blip — there When devices are not property Privacy
will be no return to the pre-virus secured, visibility and control School IT teams need to ensure that
status quo. As distance learning becomes even more important. their schools can run effectively and
becomes a valuable part of a long- The imperative for IT to remotely securely, regardless of the learning
term strategy for student education, reach devices to ensure proper model they choose to adopt. To
digital resiliency will become a key usage, secure student and staff do this, they need to ensure their
performance indicator (KPI) for devices, and the protect the school approaches are built on Endpoint
schools. network become preeminent. Resilience — an emerging and
Moreover, these critical capabilities critical KPI for school security
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, are needed to allow schools to strategy.
school IT teams were already remain accountable for technology
overwhelmed with the complexity spending. Endpoint Resilience requires a
of managing and securing student digital tether that provides an
devices and one-to-one programs, Use Device Intelligence to Inform unbreakable connection between
not to mention the need to justify Decisions the device and the school that
every dollar spent. Powerful device and application manages it. Its purpose is to be the
health and usage analytics can lifeline and single source of truth:
The “new normal” has amplified drive decision-making in areas to know where devices are, what
these challenges, as IT teams like professional development which applications are installed
are faced with complex and training and software and hardware and healthy, and where there are
varied device and application technology purchasing decisions. vulnerabilities. Absolute’s Endpoint
environments, a lack of visibility into Resilience solutions deliver the
device usage and student safety, For example, teams may find that ability to persist and self-heal the
insufficient or reduced budgets and the money they spend on web mission-critical applications and
resources, and incredibly tech-savvy filtering tools is wasted since these controls on that device, should it be
students. tools are insufficient off the school necessary, whether the device is at
network. Perhaps they can redirect home or at school.
Today, IT teams must address these those funds to a tool that will better
challenges while supporting the address the new reality. For real-time data on the state of
seamless operation of distance and the digital district, keep an eye on
hybrid learning models. As such, IT Absolute’s Coronavirus Response
leaders should aim to: Dashboard.Page 16 Endpoint Resilience™ Report | Education Edition | 2020/21
Absolute is the industry’s only to eliminate blind spots. We’re
undeletable defense platform, defining the next generation of
embedded in the firmware of more endpoint security — true Endpoint
than a half billion devices and Resilience.
deployed across more than 12,000
customer organizations. This unique To learn more about how your
position enables our customers organization can achieve Endpoint
to look at endpoint protection Resilience with Absolute, contact
holistically – to see the complete an Absolute sales representative at
picture and create a feedback loop sales@absolute.com or 1-877-600-
that enables IT and security teams 2295, or request a demo here.
Customer Find out how our solutions
Insight can benefit your organization.
“Absolute will help us on R E QU E ST DE MO
the software side and the
hardware side, frankly. We’re
discovering new ways to use
Absolute to help us manage
our various systems.”
Erik Greenwood
CTO
Anaheim Union High School District
(30,000 devices)
Report Research Methods
With Absolute, Anaheim Union This report leverages anonymized Pre-COVID-19 insights use data
High School District ensures data from millions of Absolute- points collected November to
complete visibility and control of enabled devices active across December, 2019. Insights that
30,000 devices. approximately 10,000 schools and reflect trends or changes seen in
districts. post COVID-19 outbreak time frame
Because the future of learning
use data points collected from late
remains somewhat in flux, Types of anonymized endpoint March through late May, 2020.
Anaheim Union has focused on device data that was analyzed
honing the mechanics of a few include: This report also includes certain
different learning models: in data and information from trusted
person, fully virtual or a hybrid • Device operating system and public third-party sources, which are
approach. With the capabilities latest version installed cited accordingly.
Absolute is delivering, the district • Number of security applications
is much more prepared to roll out installed
whatever model makes the most • Names and types of security
sense at the time. applications installed
• Compliance rates of security
applications, based on Absolute-
defined parametersAbout Absolute
Absolute serves as the industry benchmark for Endpoint Resilience, visibility and control. Embedded in over a half-
billion devices, the company enables more than 13,000 customers with Self-Healing Endpoint® security, always-
connected visibility into their devices, data, users and applications — whether endpoints are on or off the corporate
network — and the ultimate level of control and confidence required to support the modern enterprise. For the latest
information, visit www.absolute.com and follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
E M AI L : SALES:
sales@absolute.com absolute.com/request-a-demo
PH ON E :
W E BS IT E :
North America: 1-877-660-2289
absolute.com
EMEA: +44-118-902-2000
©2020 Absolute Software Corporation. All rights reserved. ABSOLUTE, the ABSOLUTE logo, PERSISTENCE, SELF-HEALING ENDPOINT, ENDPOINT RESILIENCE, and
APPLICATION PERSISTENCE are trademarks of Absolute Software Corporation and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. Other names or
logos mentioned herein may be the trademarks of Absolute or their respective owners. The absence of the symbols ™ and ® in proximity to each trademark, or at
all, herein is not a disclaimer of ownership of the related trademark. ABT-2021-Distance-Learning-Impact-Education-090820-1You can also read
